Page 65 of Lily, Unwritten

When Zoe met Luke later that day, her eyes nearly popped out of her head, I was ridiculously proud to call him mine. We agreed I could leave in a week’s time as she wanted to wind the business up quickly and get on with her French house hunting. Luke asked if I was interested in taking the business over, but the same thought was central in my mind - I wanted to go home. Maybe I’d start a business there; I wasn’t sure. What was meant to be would be, of that I was sure now.

I smiled across at Luke as he drove out of the village and headed north. We were going home… Together.

Twenty Three

ONE YEAR LATER

I glanced up at Luke as we wandered along the beach, our fingers laced together as always. I was barefoot, I loved feeling small next to him. When he hugged me like this, my head slotted perfectly under his chin, and he always left kisses in my hair.

Another birthday had just passed. It amazed me how life changed in a single year, and it had to be said that my thirties were beyond belief; I’d adored every day. To celebrate that and the first anniversary of when we finally got together, Luke had booked a trip to Lastovo. We were holidaying on the Croatian island in a beautiful house that overlooked the shimmering Adriatic Sea. The island was off the beaten track, sparse of tourists, and absolutely stunning.

It had become a new, captivating habit to walk along the beach and watch the sun either rise or set each day; cuddled up on the sand together as if we were the only people in the world. This place was remote and peaceful, it was easy to imagine that we were, in fact, completely alone.

Tonight we planned to watch the sunset and remain into the darkness. This location was was renowned for having one of the most beautiful, starry skies in the whole of Europe. Luke knew I loved the stars and had thought of every detail for me when choosing this place for our holiday, he put so much thought into everything.

Luke sat down in the sand and I followed, sitting in front of him and taking a deep, happy breath in the warm, salty, evening air as his arms wrapped around me like a protective cloak.

I laughed as his fingers tickled my neck. He scooped all of my hair to one side and kissed around the now bare skin.

“I love you,” I said, leaning back against him. “This is heaven.”

“We’ve come a long way, considering a year ago we were on a beach and you refused to look at me.”

I dug my elbow back into him in a playful gesture. “It all worked out in the end, didn’t it?”

“It did, and that’s all that matters.”

We were both quiet, contemplative, as we watched the sun set over the horizon; its reflection cast brilliant hues of pink and amber along the ocean. We’d given up trying to take photographs of it after the first time as there was no way we could do justice to how beautiful it appeared to the naked eye.

We had one more night after this before it was time to head home, but I didn’t feel sad. Our new home was waiting for us, a place we would be together always; close to Luke’s office and with a huge kitchen extension for my new baking business. How could anyone be sad when returning to that? Plus, I had auntie duties to help with at Cassie’s. I hadn’t got to spend anywhere near enough time with baby Arlo yet.

I spotted someone strolling along the beach in our direction, which was unusual, we usually had this section to ourselves. I smiled as I noticed his thick jacket; we thought the temperature was lovely and warm, but the locals were in full on winter mode.

Luke kissed the top of my head and jumped up. “Give me one minute,” he said, before heading to meet the stranger on the beach. I watched lazily from the corner of my eye, too invested in the sleeping dance of the sun over the water. I heard Luke say, “Hvala,” and the man handed him a bag, nodded his head to me with a smile, and turned back in the direction he had come from.

I raised an eyebrow at Luke as he carried the bag back to me. “What have you got there?”

He sat back down in the sand. “You’re so impatient!”

“I know. Thought you loved that about me?” I teased.

“I love everything about you.” He tapped the end of my nose with his finger and pulled a bottle from the bag. “This is homemade wine from the vineyard just up the hill from us. I was worried about glasses breaking and I didn’t want to have plastic, so, these are wooden wine goblets that we get to take home, and, I hope, drink wine out of together many more times.”

“What did I do to deserve you?” I asked.

“I don’t know, but… you need to stand up so I can pour this. Sun’s going to be gone in a minute.” Luke stood and held his hand out to me, tugging me up from the soft sand. He poured the wine, and we stood together. My head rested on him as his hand stroked my arm, and, together, we watched the sun dip below the horizon in a slow, exquisite journey.

“You remember when I went backpacking?” Luke asked. His voice tickled me as his mouth rested close to my ear.

I turned to him, holding his hand. “Feels like forever ago, but yes. Why?”

“I know we weren’t great then, but, I had the vaguest hope that we would be one day. So, while I was gone, I bought you a present.”

I grinned. “I already think you’re adorable and perfect and now I find out about surprise presents from the past?”

He blew out a long breath. “I saw this while I was in Malaysia. I just… When I saw it, I felt it belonged to you.” He blew out a long breath as he reached into his pocket, and pulled out a delicate ring.

Luke trembled as he stretched out the fingers of my left hand. “You know I don’t get the deal with traditional weddings, but, Lily, I want nothing more in the world than for you to be my wife. But on our terms,” he smiled and pressed a kiss to my lips. I blinked, not wanting to forget a moment of this. “If you would have me; if you would say yes. Let’s get married, under these stars tonight. You and me and the beautiful universe above us, the grains of sand below us. We don’t need anything more than that, do we? Just our promise to each other.”

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